The Kage Clause
by Yojimbra
Summary: A small minor stipulation in the Konoha constitution, leads to a rushed marriage between Kakashi and Shizune that neither of them wanted. Kakashi x Shizune, Forced Marriage, Political Marriage, Eventual fluff
1. Chapter 1

"I'm sorry could you repeat that?" Kakashi Hatake, sixth Hokage of Konoha sat behind his desk, the only way that anybody could tell that he was even remotely surprised was that his eyebrow had gone up the smallest amount.

Shizune, on the other hand, couldn't help but feel a bit nervous about the matter, she had been Tsunade's assistant for nearly four years, and she had forgotten that oh so very small, but oh so critical clause in Konoha's constitution.

"Repeating it won't make it go away Kakashi," Koharu, one of the village elders spoke softly. She placed a small silver ring on Kakashi's desk and pushed it towards him. "The Hokage must be married in order for you to be the Hokage you must first marry."

Kakashi picked up the ring and examined it slowly like it was some kind of a foreign weapon. "Tsunade didn't have to marry."

"I did actually." Lady Tsunade spoke up from her position on the table. "Married Jiraiya and drugged him enough he thought the whole thing was a fever dream."

If only Lady Tsunade had allowed Jiraiya to remember that, or at least tell him the truth, it was only after his death did she start to wear her wedding ring. She didn't claim any of Jiraiya's wealth either, only a few bottles of beer. Shizune sighed and rose her hand. "I was one of the witnesses for it."

"So, I don't actually need a family or something like that, all I need is someone to be my wife on paper?" Kakashi's eyes flickered darted between the village elders and the Fire Daimyo who sat at the other end of the table.

"That was the case for Tsunade, however," The Lord of Fire folded his hands on the table, a small gesture in the courts that must have meant something. Court politics didn't translate well to ninja politics. "You, are still in your prime, and still at the age where you can have children, it would be a shame for the Hatake line to end with you."

"I see," Kakashi did not look amused if anything he looked very annoyed. It was hard to tell with most of his face hidden behind a mask. "Well, then I guess Naruto's going to be Hokage sooner than we thought."

"Bah, I wish I had your balls Kakashi!" Lady Tsunade laughed slapping her knee. Yep, she was well on her way to getting drunk.

"Naruto is much too young and inexperienced," The Fire Daimyo spoke softly. "I'm certain he would be a fine Hokage, but we would be facing the same problem, he is unwed as well is he not?"

"Oh, I'm certain Sakura would marry him," Kakashi replied smoothly, there was a bit of truth in that statement, Sakura would probably marry Naruto if she had to, but the girl was still heart set on Sasuke.

"He's still too young though." Shizune half mumbled, honestly Kakashi was Naruto's sensei! How could the man just sell off his own student like that? "And surely you must have somebody willing to marry you Kakashi?"

Kakashi examined the ring more intently this time. "Can't you just remove the law?"

The constitution of Konoha could only be changed with the approval of the Daimyo and the Hokage, it was there to stop anyone ninja from becoming a tyrannical ruler and attempt to make certain the Daimyo had some say in the village politics. Much of their funding did come from the man after all.

"I could," The Daimyo shrugged helplessly showing his empty palms to the heavens, probably a way to show that he had no hands on the matter. Or that his hands were tied. "But, honestly Kakashi, would being married really be so bad? Give it a shot you might like it."

Kakashi sighed and looked right at her. Then back in the ring. He repeated the process over and over again. Before he shrugged and flung the ring right at her. "Heads up Shizune."

"Huh?" She caught the ring mostly out of reflex. "Why am I holding the ring?"

"What do you say?" Kakashi leaned back and smiled at her, both of his eyes closed and his mask twitched slightly. "Want to marry the Hokage?"

XXXX

"I can't believe I said yes," Shizune mumbled to herself as she stared at the door of Kakashi's home. It was modest and plain, large yard in the back for his ninken. But she should probably start thinking of it as her new home. She couldn't believe that she signed the paper, that Tsunade had signed as a witness. With that one little paper filed away safely, she was now the wife of the Sixth Hokage, days before his official inauguration.

Rolling her shoulders she picked up her bags and took another step forward. "I suppose this is the second most surprising thing to happen in my life, right after Tsunade deciding that she'd be Hokage."

Might as well get the rest of her life over with. No, not only was she the Hokage's assistant, but she was his wife as well. Hopefully, Kakashi wasn't some kind of crazy closet pervert that had a sex dungeon in his house.

She knocked on the front door and expected the worse when Kakashi opened the door.

It was just awkward really. Here was a man that had been her colleague for years standing in his doorway wearing the standard shinobi sweater with the Uzumaki symbol on the sleeves, he effectively looked the same as he always did spare the jacket and headband. And she was supposed to just walk in here and go 'I live here now'

Were they going to share a bed? Did Kakashi own a bed big enough for two? Was she going to see his face? A million questions were running through Shizune's mind at that moment. But only one made it to the surface. "May I come in Lord Kakashi?"

Her bags were heavy.

He frowned behind his mask and took a step back opening the door further and presenting the inside of his house to her. It was plain. Not plain as in it was neat and tidy, it was plain in that there wasn't enough stuff to make a mess. A couch rested against an empty white wall, a small coffee table sat with the morning paper on it, on the far wall sitting on an empty T.V. Stand was a small T.V. that was several generations to old, it probably didn't even play in color. And aside from the hardwood floor that was it. "You live here now, you don't have to knock. And don't call me lord."

"I don't have a key." Honestly, she barely even knew where she was, the whole last day had been a mess. Why did she agree to this again? Was she so desperate that she'd marry the first man to propose to her? The sad answer to that question was apparently yes.

But as she looked at Kakashi she felt… nothing, no real desire, nothing beyond companionship and friendship at any rate. Nothing like the love Tsunade or Jiraiya described. She was too old to fall in love, and so was he she supposed.

Kakashi smiled and produced a Key from nowhere a bell tied with a red string was attached to it. "Here you go, one key for my wife."

Sakura was right, sometimes Kakashi just made you want to punch him.

Shizune sat her bags down an accepted her new house key. What was with the bell? It was like the bells he used for the bell test. Still, she pocketed the key, to add it to her growing collection of keys. Really in Konoha keys, and doors really were just formalities. "Thank you, Lord Kakashi."

His smile died and he gave her a stiff look. "Look, please don't call me lord, I don't want any of my comrades to, and you're my wife now so please don't."

"As you say Lord Kakashi." Shizune smiled and picked up her belongings once again. Her new husband just groaned at her. It was weird to think of him as anything other than a fellow shinobi. Yet here she was living with somebody that she only knew from work. Not that she could complain, she had been on exactly zero dates in her life. "Now where can I put my stuff?"

"Oh, right. Follow me." He acted like she'd get lost in his home… her home… well, it didn't feel like home, still, it was better than her current living conditions of Tsunade's guestroom, and the staff beds at the hospital. She was going to get a place of her own… eventually, but that ship had now sailed.

"This is the Kitchen." he gestured towards the empty looking kitchen with exactly one dish drying in the dish rack, it looked clean, but again clean as in it wasn't used enough to get dirty. The fridge was probably barren, like a standard bachelors fridge, a few beers, a bottle of ketchup, maybe one or two things to eat.

"The bathroom." The door was shut.

"And here right across the hall, is your room." Kakashi opened the door revealing a decent sized room mostly dominated by the bed pressed against the corner, right next to a window that looked out over the backyard. A desk was in the corner, a fresh set of pens arranged neatly on the closet sat empty, awaiting her things and a new T.v. - it still had the sticker on it - sat atop a dresser.

"My room?" Shizune asked, "Where are you staying?"

"Oh," Kakashi blinked and took a step back pushing open the door at the end of the hallway. "This is my room, right next to yours."

Kakashi's room was unlike the rest of his house… lived in, his closet was open, filled with several copies of the standard jounin attire, several scrolls sat on his desk, and a second plate with a partially eaten sandwich sat on it awaiting his return. Several picture frames also decorated the desk.

Nice to know that she wasn't married to a robot. Still not certain on the android that just liked to troll people part.

"I spend most of my time in there, so if you need anything let me know," He drawled before he walked into his room.

With the door to her room closed behind her Shizune began to unpack. How long were they going to make them put on this charade before they allowed them to return to their lives of solitude? Hopefully, the Daimyo will see that both Kakashi and her simply had no interest in marrying, let alone starting a family.

Once her things were unpacked and the room felt a bit like home Shizune flopped down onto the bed and stared at the slowly spinning ceiling fan. She couldn't even hear Kakashi in the next room, it was almost like she had finally gotten that place of her own.

"I wonder if he would mind if I started to decorate the house?"

 **AN: I've shipped Kakashi x Shizune for a while, finally thought of a good idea for it. (I was going to write a fic where Fem Naruto needed a husband to become Hokage and have Gaara and Sasuke fight for her... but this idea sounded better to me) I hope you all enjoy this fic!**

 **Please follow me on Tumblr!**


	2. Chapter 2

Shizune was a morning person in that it took her five minutes after getting out of bed to be a functional member of society. Compared to her master who required thirty minutes of groaning in bed, a ten-minute nap and a cup of coffee, this was quite fast.

For the first five minutes, Shizune was in Medic Mode, a trained condition in which emotions, memories, and other useless functions were suppressed so that medical knowledge and logic could be available instantly after waking up.

It was in this analytical state that Shizune found herself in when she met her husband as he was coming out from the shower, with nothing but his towel - and a slightly smaller towel wrapped around his face.

"Kakashi Hatake, Hokage of Konoha, Age: 32 years old. Height: 181 cm. Weight approximately 68 kg. Excellent physical condition. Known weaknesses, lax attitude." Shizune droned on.

"Hey now," Kakashi drawled, he placed a hand on her head and ruffled up her bedhead. "Is that any way to speak about your husband?"

"Low stamina. Long recovery time. Possibly just lazy." Shizune continued. "Anti-social behavior, left eye somehow restored to original state, any changes should be noted. Numerous scars from self-treated wounds, as well as a Next of kin, unknown."

"Oi, Shizune," he snapped his fingers in front of her. "You okay?"

Shizune blinked officially waking up to the sight of a shirtless, and save for two towels, naked Kakashi standing in front of her snapping his fingers. "Oh, good morning Kakashi, What…"

Right. She was married to him, she was living in his house, with her own bedroom. Honestly, she thought the whole thing was the dream. At Least naruto becoming Hokage, marrying Hinata and having a kid named Boruto sounded slightly more plausible than her being married. And to Kakashi of all people. Yet here she was. Standing in front of her naked husband as his hair sagged from a morning shower.

"Is there any hot water left?" Shizune asked looking towards the shower, Kakashi woke up before her, that was good to know, at least that wouldn't be bumping into each other during their morning routines.

He shrugged, "Maybe, I don't really use hot water."

Shizune blinked, She was married to a monster.

"What was with that trance before?" He made a lazy gesture with his hands to indicate all of her.

He was way too comfortable with standing naked in front of her, then again, she had seen him naked before during a physical and twice during various surgeries. Medics didn't have a lot of time for modesty. "Oh, that just happens when I first wake up, it's from trying to sleep while on call at the hospital."

"I see well then, I'm going to make breakfast, I suppose I should offer you some? It's just eggs." Kakashi offered, as he stepped to the side allowing her access to the bathroom.

"Sure."

XXXX

At work, nothing changed, aside from the ring on her finger there was absolutely no trace of her marriage with Kakashi. She still signed her name the same, people still treated her the same, Kakashi still treated her the same. It was just the same as it always was.

The only difference was that she lived at Kakashi's house. She was basically just his platonic roommate and coworker, that stayed there for free, and ate his food. Honestly, it was a pretty good deal.

"Oh, Shizune," Kakashi drawled after finishing a proposal over the expansion behind the Hokage monument.

"Yes Lord Kakashi?" He frowned at her. "Sorry, I mean yes Kakashi?"

"Earlier this morning you said that my next of kin was unknown, what did you mean by that?" He leaned back in his chair and looked directly at her, far too comfortable.

"Oh, well in the event of you being put into a state where you cannot make choices for yourself, such as being catatonic, or deranged, the next of kin is to be notified so they can make certain choices for you." she shifted on her feet, and her arms dropped slightly. "It's also used in the event of your death, the next of kin is the first to be notified if possible, and after that your estate, unless otherwise stated in a will would go to them."

"I see," He seemed so unphased by the morbid topic. "Do you have a next of kin?"

"Technically no," It was stated in her file that Tsunade was her emergency contact, but that was true for most of Konoha at one point given that she used to be the Hokage.

"Excellent," Kakashi stood and walked towards the door. "What are you waiting for?"

"What's excellent? Where are we going?"

"Well, you're my wife now right?" she nodded. "That makes you my next of kin right?"

"I guess so?" Spouses were top on the hierarchy in most cases.

"Then we should probably go and take care of that paperwork, oh and we may need to stop by the bank as well."

"We're not setting up a joint account," Shizune growled. It was her money, not even lady Tsunade was allowed to touch it. Especially lady Tsunade.

"I never said we were, but I'd like to have my beneficiary be somebody besides Pakkun, wouldn't you say Mrs. Hatake."

Shizune sighed, this was going to be a long day, wasn't it?

XXXX

"So," Shizune glanced at her husband as he walked by her side reading that orange book of his in public. The worse part about it was that the entire village was used to it. It was entirely normal for Kakashi to walk around reading an orange book. "Is that book any good?"

Tsunade had forbidden her from ever touching it. But she was a grown… and apparently married woman now. She should at least try to show some interest in Kakashi's hobby. Even if it was technically reading smut.

Kakashi shrugged. "I enjoy them."

"Can I read it when you're done?"

Kakashi came to a stop and snapped the book shut, his eyes twisted into his signature smile. "Oh, why the sudden interest?"

Shizune felt her cheeks turn red and she huffed, turning to look at one of the various stalls. "It's not like I want to read it or anything I'm just curious about your hobbies."

He chuckled and the orange book appeared in front of her face. "You know, you're not a very good Tsundere Shizune."

"Hmph," she swiped the book from him and snuck it into her sleeve. "I am not a Tsundere, you're just impossible."

"Impossibly good looking."

Shizune came to a dead stop. Were they… did they just… Since… wait… huh? "Wait, are you flirting with me?"

"Not really, I'm mostly flirting with myself. I believe we're having… playful banter, at least if that book is anything to go by." Kakashi motioned for her to resume walking by his side like she was some kind of dog. "Besides if I was flirting with you, you'd know it."

"Yea right, You're just as clueless as I am about dating." They both had an impressive track record of no romantic relationships. Her because she was traveling and Tsunade would pound any guy that so much as looked at either of them… not that many looked at her given how Tsunade would often look younger than her by a year or two at times.

And Kakashi because he was either anti-social, had no sex drive, couldn't hold a conversation to save his life, or just because he was generally so aloof people wondered if he was human.

He stood in front of her. Close. Closer than he'd been to her. He took a hand and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, only for it to fall back into place a moment later. "You have the brains of a scholar, the grace of a noblewoman, the beauty of a merchant's daughter, but most of all I find your edge - so much like a ninja's blade - to be the most alluring part of you."

Shizune stared at Kakashi. She smacked her lips once and gave him a leveled look. "Was that you flirting?"

"Did…. did it not work?" He took a step back and removed his hand from her hair.

"It sounded like you were reading it from a script with no heart in it. Honestly, I think if you did that to a girl it would make them even less attracted to you." She pulled out his book and booped him on the nose with it. "What do I get if I find it in here."

Kakashi had the decency of looking at least somewhat ashamed. "It's in the next one, and what do you mean even less attracted, am I unattractive?"

"Not really? I mean it's hard to say you never show anybody your face, but it's just that you look like you're constantly exasperated by everything. Your entire personality basically says 'I'm bored of you already' which is your real turn off." Shizune said.

"Oh, like you're one to talk," Kakashi turned to face her pushing the book back at her. There was no malice in his voice if anything he was cheerful.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You stress over every little detail."

"I do not."

"You had me resign something because it wasn't on the line."

"It was an official document! It needed to look official!"

"You also wanted to get the seating ready for the upcoming chunin exam without even knowing how many villages would be attending. You are the micromangingest micromanager I've ever met."

"Kakashi?" Shizune stopped when she felt the smile on her face hurt her cheeks. "Are we fighting or flirting?"

"I don't even know anymore."

They walked to their home in silence. Maybe, just maybe there might be something that could bloom here after all.

"You're also flat chested."

"You know I have twelve poisons on me that can kill you if I put them into your tea right?"

"Remind me not to drink tea."

Or, perhaps not.

 **AN: Down side of Nano is that I don't stop to edit or redo things. This chapter went a weird direction and honstly I'm not certain I like it. Anyways, I'll be working on either Warlock Acadamia next or What is Due**


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